dependent family members (71.3%). Approximately half the
sample had bachelor-level nursing education (47.5%), while
only three respondents had completed postgraduate educa-
tion. The sample included nurses with a range of clinical
experience and length of service in their hospital and current
ward. Most nurses reported working overtime in the previous
week, with a significant minority (28.2%) working more than
10 h.The majority of the sample (88.3%) had a typical patient
load of seven or more during a normal day shift. Most
worked a three rotating shift roster (70.9%), an average total
of 18.2 (SD 2.9) shifts per month, most being day shifts
(59.0%).
Nursing practice environment
Summary statistics for the PES-NWI and three study
outcome variables are presented in Table 2. The mean com-
posite score of the PES-NWI was 2.61 (SD 0.35) on a
four-point scale. Four of the five mean subscale scores were
above the midpoint of 2.5 indicating a favorable work envi-
ronment overall (Lake & Friese, 2006). The highest mean
subscale scores were for collegial nurse–physician relations
(2.84) and nurse manager ability, leadership, and support of
nurses (2.82). the only subscale to fall below the midpoint was
staffing and resource adequacy (1.94). Nurse-rated ability to
provide quality nursing care was 2.4 (SD 0.6) on a four-
point scale. The mean scores for quality of patient care and
ward morale were 5.6 (SD 1.8) and 5.0 (SD 1.9) on an
11-point scale respectively.